“Is 911 a Joke?” [August] was not fair to Fire Chief Rocco Forte. He has been given a raw deal by both the governor and the city fathers and mothers. They cut his budget and told him to deal with it. He has done his best to keep suppression forces adequately staffed. There is much more to running a fire department than many realize, particularly with prevention, education, investigation, and code enforcement along with firefighting and EMS duties. He has made several solid appointments and raised the level of cooperation with the police department. During the last several years, the arson squad, comprised of four Minneapolis firefighters and two Minneapolis police sergeants, has made a significant number of arrests. We ended the run of the Hodgeman brothers’ serial arson spree and resolved the twenty-four-year-old murder of two Minneapolis firefighters. This is an area of the fire department where Forte deserves credit.
Sgt. Sean McKenna
Arson Squad
Minneapolis Police Department
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